Cheryl Walker and Andy Garcia will leave for Guatemala on Thursday, July 18, as part of a mission team with First Baptist Church, Wilmington, NC. This will be Cheryl’s 6th trip and Andy’s 2nd. Their mission will be to share the love of Jesus Christ by helping to build houses for people who desperately need shelter. A Commissioning Service was held last Sunday during the worship hour to express our love, prayers and support for their endeavor.
As they go, our responsibility is to hold them up in prayer. Commit yourself to pray for them daily. Pray for safe travel. Pray for them to take advantage of every opportunity to witness for Jesus Christ. Pray that souls will be saved. Pray for the physical health and strength of the mission team as they labor in climate conditions to which they are unaccustomed. Pray that lives will be touched and changed as they build relationships and improve the living conditions of those who will receive the new houses.
We will await their return prayerfully and look forward to a time in August when they can share their experience with us.
Our family will be on vacation July 20-28 in Brooksville, Maine in celebration of our 60th Wedding Anniversary (June 7, 1959). It is the first time that we have been able to pull together such a trip since our children married and had children of their own. Charles Swindoll, author of Christian Books, “Insight for Living” radio preacher and Pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas says that there are certain times in life that extravagance is acceptable. Sixty years is one of those acceptable times for us. Pray that we will have safe travel and wonderful bonding time with our children and grandchildren building memories for them that will last long after we are gone.
Let me urge you to be supportive of the Worship Services and Prayer Meeting in our absence. Dr. Roger Nix, suffered a severe burn to his hand and will not be able to preach on July 21. Please keep Roger in your prayers. Graciously, Dr. Richard Wynne, retired Pastor of St. John’s Baptist Church, Raleigh, accepted our last-minute invitation and will be our Guest Preacher. Dr. George Braswell, retired Professor of World Religions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Campbell Divinity School and the first Baptist Missionary to Iran will speak on Wednesday night, July 24, at 6:30pm and Rev. Matt Norman and his wife Michelle, Cooperative Baptist Missionaries to Barcelona, Spain, will be our Guest Speakers on Sunday, July 28. You will be blessed by their ministry.
In His Love,
Charles
